List of Eras
Overview There are likely an uncountable number of ways to catalog and track history throughout Quirus - almost every race and major society has a different calendar - however most accepted amongst scholars globally is the Elven calendar (Also known as SET - Standard Elven Time). Considered to be the most widespread, well known, detailed, and ancient, most political courts use this as their default method of date keeping - even to a certain degree in the human realms. The Elven Calendar dates back to what many consider the beginnings of civilization on Quirus - or Elven civilization at least. It most probably has the oldest records, and with the exception of recent history, also the most detailed records. The rise of Elven civilization to global prominence in the Era of the Elves meant that they were perhaps the first calendar system to be used on both Eidan and Sudias, thus lending itself well to trans-continental merchants in later eras. Despite its diminished prominence in the Era of Domination, it still held strong in many outlying regions and certainly in the Elven kingdoms, and thus still today forms the basis for all serious historical note-keeping and writings in nearly every society. The Elven Calendar is divided as follows; Eras: ''Eras constitute time periods of major themes - typically spanning millennia at a time - and are the largest division in Elven time. ''Sub-Eras: ''Often centuries long in duration, these mark divisions between major global events, usually pertaining the rise and fall of certain themes, or the start or end of cataclysmic events. ''Years: ''A year lasts exactly 360 days, and typically constitutes a full cycle between the seasons. ''Day: ''Days form the basis of the Elven calendar. While most realms have other divisions, none are considered universally usable, and thus most scholars go down to the day when recounting events. Days are divided as usual, with hours, minutes, and seconds, though timekeeping here is tricky at best as some segments of civilization (Mostly large towns) start their clocks at a very specific midnight, and others (Mostly rural towns) begin their clock with sun rise. '''The Seasons' Seasons can dependably last between 100-140 days, however every few years this can change dramatically. While some seasons have spanned several years, they most often stick to this average time basis. The seasons are - depending on latitude - divided into the Planting, Harvesting, and Stormy seasons. Planting Season: ''Planting Season is characterized by moderate temperatures and rainfall. It is typified as the least volatile season, with few storms and reliable temperature and weather. ''Harvesting Season: ''Typified by hotter weather than the Planting Season, in also receives moderate rainfall and is fairly consistent in temperature and weather. ''Stormy Season: ''In some places this is considered the coldest period - in others the hottest. Typified by extreme temperatures and fluctuation, as well as deadly storms. Though most years are not typified by extended snow cover - save the most extreme of latitudes - some years can be frigid, with thick blankets of snow even nearing the equatorial regions - though most short lived folk only experience this a handful of times throughout their life. '''Eras' 1E Era of Beasts (2998 years): ''An era in which large beasts dominated most landscapes and food chains, terrorizing what few large and small population centers arose. Civilizations remained fairly contained and hidden throughout this era, typified largely by scavenger populations in small, localized hideouts. The 0'th year marks what is considered the oldest record from an Elven city in what is now the Free Cities. (Though slighly older records have been identified, royal decree made this the starting year, and all prior records are denoted by 0E XXXX, with the X's denoting how many years before 1E0 the record references) 2E ''First Era of Magic (697 years): ''The Discovery of the ability to wield magic by the elves revolutionized their society, and brought about what is sometimes also referred to as the First Era of Elves. Their head start would be brief however, and within a few decades numerous wars of containment would be fought against other humanoids who learned how to wield magic, most notably the rapidly expanding human populations. 3E ''First Era of Chaos (1,103 years): The distinction between the 2nd and 3rd eras is hard to make, as much of it was typified by inter-racial conflict, however a decisive victory for human forces in 3E1 is usually considered the turning point. This era is typified by brutal conflict, as no race had yet truly learned to communicate with its neighbors. Thus war could arise at the smallest of sleights between troops and governments. Decisive human victories in the following centuries against a number of races led to their tongue becoming dominant by the end of the Era, said tongue is now known as Common Tongue throughout Quirus. Even the elves gave in eventually, and by 3E1101 the last great elven king learned common tongue. 4E ''Era of Gods (2,062 years): ''This era would mark the first widespread visits by the gods to the material plane of Quirus. Some visits by benevolent gods went well, others by less well meaning gods resulted in death and destruction. This era saw the introduction of the Aasimir and Tiefling races as the gods intermingled with the mortal populace. Fortunately at the time, religions was such a decentralized affair that few major battles were fought between the gods themselves. 5E ''Era of the Schism (2,055 years): ''Perhaps the most damaging of all the Eras, this would see the rise in power of what are now considered the Gods of the Eastern Pantheon, and also the divergence of the two great continents into what we know today. The Eastern Gods, led by Demithax and his brothers waged a powerful war for domination, strengthened by mass devotion among those inhabiting the east of the great continent. And so began a war that spanned several millennia and killed millions - almost every major society was destroyed and rebuilt in the conflict that followed and even the geography itself was not spared, with the great continent being torn in two and creating what we know to day as The Rift. The Era ended with the departure of the Eastern gods to Anchoneus and the Western gods to their respective planes. 6E ''Era of the Elves (1,113 years): ''Though the gods had all but gone by 5E2054, the magical well that millennia of their presence had created did not evaporate so quickly. Empowered by the strong magical field that persisted, the elves - divided into three competing kingdoms - launched an era of global domination, quickly sweeping up broken and beaten societies - whole races including the humans came under their thumb. Though many races will characterize this as a period of mild repression, it was also one of untold global growth, and the elven reach even extended - to a certain degree - to Sudias, and thus inter-rift trade thrived. By 6E1067 the magical field had diminished to regular levels however, and their burgeoning empires were threatened by separatist movements their slow growing populations could not contain. 7E ''Second Era of Chaos (651 years): ''The gradual collapse of the Elven kingdoms - assaulted corruption and dwindling populations in multiracial cities - left a global power vacuum, and many newly freed races clamored to conquer the surrounding lands and rich, poorly defended elven cities. New civilizations rose as quickly as they fell, and few stuck around for more than a single lifetime. The once great elven empires disintegrated and a mass exodus of Elves fled back to their natural homelands. Noble houses that once supported their Emperors declared their independence, and thus the Free Cities were born, as often times it was the rich city mayors who could cling to power better than the nobles in their castles. The end of the era would see the gradual rise and strengthening of four human kingdoms - and their gradual push towards global domination. 8E ''Era of Man (3,543 years): ''The Era of Man, sometimes called the Era of Domination, is perhaps the least defined Era in history. While Humans certainly dominated the globe, they neither accomplished it as quickly or peacefully as the Elves. Though seven great kingdoms would rise, and three fall throughout the Era, it was generally characterized by strong unity among the humans in their respective kingdoms. For all other races however, it was a dark period. The humans proved much more domineering than the Elves, and certainly less benevolent. All trade flowed back to what became massive metropolis - the beacons of human power. Even the elven kingdoms - and the free cities - were sheepish when dealing the the great kingdoms and empires built by the humans. This periods saw considerable intermingling of races, and though many homelands stayed homogenous, several regions (Most notably the To Imperium) became melting pots for various cultures and races. 9E ''Era of Diversity (327 years)(Present Day): ''The rise of the To Imperium signaled the rise in relevance of multiracial kindgoms that had slowly been siphoning power in the edges of the Human Empires. The first hundred years of the era were characterized by the great wars of men - fought between the remaining human empires. This saw the intervention of the remaining Elven kingdoms, and the breakaway of numerous smaller states which quickly consolidated their own power. Since that time no particular race or state can claim anything close to global domination, and no state exterts power on a continent opposite its capital. This era forms the foundation for the current era, one where many states either consolidate themselves into homogeneous societies with a dislike of outsiders, or experiment with a society in which no particular race is dominant.